


little beacons

by egoblow



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Regency, Angst, Angst and Feels, Childhood Friends, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Fire, Intrigue, M/M, Regency Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 08:44:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20132632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/egoblow/pseuds/egoblow
Summary: A fire took everything from Lio.His parents, his home, everything. All gone in a single night.Eleven years later, Lio returns to Promepolis in search of answers for the devastating tragedy that befell the Fotia Estate and to return his family's name to its former glory.What he doesn't expect is a familiar face bursting back into his life.-- A Regency AU fic.





	little beacons

Fire.

A fire that burned so brightly that it lit up the night for all the town to see. It blazed like a beacon in the frigid night, beckoning him home to where all had been lost.

_Come home, come home_. The fire seemed to cry out to him.

He ran as fast as he could under that moonless sky towards that one brilliant spot in the distance.

_My home, my home_. Tears streamed down his face as he realized.

Blood stained the soil where sharp rocks and ice had torn into the soft flesh of his feet. The frenzy of the news has jolted him into motion that his boots were left abandoned.

"Lio, Lio...!" A distant voice cried out from behind him, but the sound was lost on him.

He ran even as his lungs heaved for breath and his body shook from the cold. The distant beacon grew closer and closer until the truth of the matter could no longer be denied. He bore witness with his own eyes to the horrifying reality of it all.

The Fotia Estate was on fire.

A roaring fire wrapped around the entirety of the massive building, sending up giant plumes of black smoke. Even from where he stood, he could feel the heat of the flames that warned against getting closer.

The Fotia Estate, the only home he ever knew, was burning.

"Lio!" He heard his name distantly, and felt arms embrace him.

He thrashed under the hold, sparked with a sudden animalistic need to run in. To salvage, to save. To find something that remained in the blaze that would remind him of what once was.

But the arms were steady and solid, and held him as he screamed. Screamed until his throat ran raw, and he could no longer make a sound besides a sorrowful wail for what was gone.

_Come home, come home_, the blazing beacon had said.

But there was a home no longer.

* * *

"Is it as you remember?"

Lio can feel the probing gaze of his companions on him. He grimaced at the weight of their eyes, skin crawling as he practically felt all the unasked questions bubbling forth from them.

He looked out the window of their carriage and watched the long stretch of green pastures roll past them. Briefly, he felt himself get lost in the rolling bump of a galloping horse, and pretended as if the rockiness of their road was not the source of the jostling ride.

As common as a field of grass was a sight to behold, it did feel familiar. In the far distance he could catch the faint glimmer of the lake that Promepolis was known for. His mother had loved it, had always insisted that they spend their sunny days beneath the shade of the aged willow. An idyllic childhood, one might claim, before...

_Come home, come home_, the fire cried to him.

"It is," Lio hissed out a tad sharply as he snapped himself out of his ruminations. "How much can change in eleven years?"

Gueira and Meis exchanged a brief glance before the former gestured at him. "Just look at you."

Lio raised a brow at the response. "And?"

Gueira squirmed under the look. He cleared his throat gruffly before looking out the window on his side. "I'm just saying, sir, time has done you, well--" He gestured vaguely again, his bravery now short when attempting such a bold assessment.

"You've matured, is what he means," Meis helpfully stepped in, tactful as ever. "You left Promepolis a child and you return a man. Most may not recognize you."

"An advantage then," Lio smirked.

"One might say," Meis agreed. His grace in dissolving the situation was unsurprising. Though his parents came from modest beginnings, they were skillful merchants who had risen by their own means. Their new wealth had afforded the best tutors that Adai could afford for their only child.

More importantly, their wealth had enabled their charity towards the Fotia heir in the most dire of circumstances, accepting the boy into their household as if he were their own.

A blazing fire during the dead of winter had swallowed up the Fotia Estate. In a single night, all that Lio had held dear had vanished into smoke and ash. His parents, his caretakers, and the one place he called home...

Gone now. All gone.

There was no one left, but him to carry on the Fotia name.

To restore the Fotia name to the glory it once held.

To bring justice for all the wrongs that had been done.

"We can leave whenever we want, you know. If this place sucks--" Gueira had found his bravery again to speak his mind.

The young man was a hired hand as their bodyguard, but his natural chemistry with them had quickly eroded the wall between employer and employee. Though he seem gangly and awkward, the bodyguard packed a powerful punch and surprising speed.

"I am sure," Lio stated without any hesitation as he turned towards his companions. "I have questions that need to be answered, and there is nowhere else that will offer me that peace."

The jostling of the carriage evened out as they approached the smoother roads that led to Promepolis. In the distance, the roofs of the small city began to poke into the horizon of the pastoral landscape.

"A fire took everything from me. My mother, my father, my only home," He pulled out a slim piece of paper from his pocket. Lio examined it once more, tracing each letter as he had done a maddening amount of times in the weeks prior. "And I intend to find out why."

He stared at the words once more to give him courage before tucking it away.

THE FOTIA FIRE WAS NO ACCIDENT.


End file.
